It will be another three weeks until Furness Raiders are in action action and they'll go into their Christmas break with coach David Cairns and their players excited with what the new year brings.

The Raiders' under-19 side boosted morale with a 23-16 victory over a strong Hull FC Academy at Craven Park on Wednesday that demonstrated they can mix it with some of the strongest college teams in the country.

It was just the increase in confidence they needed after their developing squad found the step up in the standard of opposition, following some easier games earlier in the season, hard to adapt to.

Cairns said: "We needed that one because we were on a roll downhill before that - we lost against Hull in the last game against them before we got beat by Wakefield, so we had to nip that in the bud this week.

"Fortunately, we have so we can have a good Christmas and start again in the new year.

"I want to give a bit a mention to our young lads. Will Hadwen, David Beck and Martin Brun were just outstanding and they've got a good future, them lads, because they're only 16 and they're playing against guys who are sometimes three years older than them.

"They just need to progress with their skills and with their growth because they've definitely got loads of ability."

Furness Raiders' next match is away, against Leeds City College on Wednesday, January 8.